Red Warrior
by Tetsushi 3293
Summary: The World of Ninja is a dangerous one. But the Ninja world isn't just inhabited by ninja. There are talking animals, demons, and...samurai. Follow the story of former feared samurai as he tires to help a girl with a dark past.
1. Chapter 1 Intro

Ch. 1: Intro

In the Village Hidden in the Mist on one of the islands to the north, a thick blanket of fog covered the area near a mansion. A lake that lead to the ocean on one side, and a bamboo forest on the other side, was also close by. Outside the mansion were many guards, consisting of people ranging from retired thugs to mercenaries for hire. All was quiet, no noise or whisper could be heard; just the sound of the wind and footsteps of the guards patrolling the mansion.

At the front gate, two heavily armed guards stood watch, staring at the tall, thick, green bamboo trees, making sure no enemies would appear. Above them on the wall were well trained archers of the Uzushiro Clan, hired for extra protection. The men at the gate were bored and tired from keeping watch 24/7, hardly being able to sleep, for their client was always worried something would happen, and at that very moment something did happen. The thick fog around them grew heavier and they couldn't see anything, not even their own hands. Confused and scared, the guards nevertheless regained their courage and readied themselves for whatever was coming. They could hear the sound of many footsteps quickly heading their way. Were they being attacked, or was it more survivors of some other clan fleeing to safety? Then just like that….it stopped. The footsteps just suddenly died. What was going on? Were they holding hostages or was someone killed? Was the hell was going on?

Suddenly, the two guards at the gate dropped dead, blood flowing from their throats, which were cut open. On the wall, the Uzushiro archers readied there Yumi bows, but just like the two guards from below, they were unknowingly killed with their throats cut open. One by one the guards were each silently killed, each of their throats slit open. Soon the fog lightened up and the mansion grounds were covered with the corpses of every dead guard at their exact guard spot, with a sea of blood. The ones responsible for this action were the infamous tracker ninja from the Mist Village ANBU Black Ops.

Trained for missions such as these, the ANBU Black Ops were the elite of every ninja village, the Special Forces you could say. These special ANBU were called tracker ninja, with knowledge of the human body and known for hunting down and killing rogue ninja. Due to their reputation for utterly and completely obliterating the remains of their targets, they are code-named "The Undertaker Squad." However, these ANBU were hunting a different target. No, they weren't looking for a rogue ninja, but instead the Kekkei Genkai family who escaped the slaughter of their clan. The orders to find and kill them were given to them directly by the 4th Mizukage.

Due to the Mizukage's tyrannical leadership, the Mist Village was plunged into a Civil War that plagued them for many years, and have thus caused them to be called The Bloody Mist Village and was also the cause of the death of many clans, like those of the Yuuki and Uzushiro. Those few Kekkei Genkai-wielding clans still had many alive; they were scattered throughout the Land of Water, banding together with other Clans to form a resistant group and wage war against the corrupt Mizukage and government. The Civil War started years ago, and the rebelling clans were forced on the run, being able to only use hit-and-run tactics. Today, by order of the 4th Mizukage, the surviving members of the Terumi clan would exist no more.

Slowly moving out of the bamboo forest were many more ANBU, all with the intent of purging the Terumi clans last survivors that were held up in this mansion. The lead ANBU waved his hand, ordering the troops to move forward while the troops who dispatched the guards opened the gate to meet up with them.

"Sir, all the guards on the outside have been eliminated. Squads A through F are making their way through the building, but there is still lots of resistance along the way," one ANBU reported.

"Have squads B and C support Squad A. Squads D, E and F will continue making their way through the mansion." The ANBU Commander walked up to a corpse and kicked it. "Look at these fools. All hired by the Terumi clan to protect them. They know they will all die, but they will die with honor for fighting to the end to protect these people." He turned his radio on and spoke into it. "Squads A, B, and C, report?"

There was a bit of static before a voice came through. "Squad A Captain reporting. We've cleared the lower half of the building. We are moving on to the third floor. Squad D Captain reports they have interrogated a man, and he says the Terumi clan is in the room at the top floor to the left at the end of a hallway. They are moving in now."

"Good…very good. I shall talk to them right away." He switched channels and spoke again. "Squad D, report?"

"Squad D reporting, Commander. We have reached the last room. All enemies have been wiped out and we are….wait….there is someone here. He's blocking the path. It...It's a teenager!"

"A teenager!?" the Commander repeated. "It doesn't matter, kill him too. If he's guarding the Terumi's then he dies too."

"Already done. We are attacking and….what!? N-no, impossible!"

"What's going on?! Report!"

"Fall back! He's a demon! Run! RUN! AGH, NO STAY BACK! STAY THE FUCK BACK! NO, NO! AAGH! MY LEGS! AGH! YOU'RE A DEMON!"

Then all that was left was the sound of static electricity. The Commander was baffled at hearing the screams of the ANBU still playing in his head. "What the fuck?" he thought before switching coms. "All ANBU squads watch out! There is a teenager guarding the Terumi clan, show extreme caution when dealing with this boy. There's more to him than meets the eye." Suddenly the radio was buzzing with many voices.

"It's the teenager watch out!

"Agh, he's too fast!"

"Watch out!"

"Agh, he's too powerful!"

"What the fuck is he!?"

The Commander drew his sword. "All ANBU squads regroup outside with me. We'll kill that little punk together!" The Commander shouted, waiting for his men to regroup. He waited and waited and waited, but still his men inside the building did not come back. What was taking so long? He tried to contact them but no response came through. Suddenly a scream was heard and out of the open doors came a headless ANBU's corpse, blood spewing out of its neck. The Commander was not fazed by this, but a few of his men were. He tightened his grip around the hilt of his katana.

Then out of the house came the teenager. Short red hair reaching to his neck with blue eyes like the sky clad in a red long sleeved kimono shirt and matching red hakama pants. Beneath the sleeve of his shirt were black arm guards, and in his right hand was a bloody sword while in the left…was the head of the ANBU. Who was this kid?

"Who are you?" the ANBU Commander asked, getting no answer from the blue-eyed boy. "Are you from the Uzumaki clan? How did you kill all my men in the mansion!? Did the Terumi clan hire you?" Still no answer from the red-haired boy, making the ANBU Commander losing his temper. "ANSWER ME!" he roared in anger, wanting to get the boy to speak.

Finally the teenager did something. He tossed the head through the air, and it landed at the Commander's feet. "Turn back now. I do not wish to fight you, but if you force me to fight I will show no mercy." He said, taking a two hand grip with his sword.

The ANBU Commander could feel powerful chakra running through the boy's body. Was he an Uzumaki? Maybe, maybe not, but there was something off about this boy and he had a bad feeling about it. Still, it was just one boy. He probably got lucky when facing the ANBU inside the mansion. Whoever this boy was, he would find out when they captured him. "Capture him! I want him alive for questioning!" he ordered.

Every Mist ANBU followed the order and charged the red-haired boy, knowing it would be all too easy to capture him. The teenager held his ground, not moving one inch and when the ANBU drew closer, he sprang into action and the last thing all the ANBU saw….

Was a red flash.


	2. Chapter 2 Farewell and a new begining

Chap 2: Farewell and a New Beginning

**13 years after the incident at the mansion.**

"You really need to straighten up your act. I am getting very tired of hearing your excuses. One more and I will have to take you to talk with the Hokage, and trust me, she's not exactly an angel. If you want to stay a ninja, you need to be more responsible and actually show up for missions."

Rolling her eyes and giving a light sigh, the raven-haired girl simply stopped listening after "excuses." Quite frankly, she didn't care if her sensei didn't like her reasons; missions were boring and she hated her team. But, if it stopped all the complaints, she'd go on their next mission. Even if it killed her. Nodding and looking up at her sensei, (he was at least four inches taller than her) she responded, "Don't worry, I'll make it to the next one. Just... Remind me when it is again?"

Her sensei just smiled that knowing smile- the one that said that he knew she was lying- and reminded her. "Tomorrow morning. We have to guard the Feudal Lord's treasury for the day, while we wait for his other guards to arrive."

"Ah, yes. The treasury. I remember now. I'll be there!"

With a laugh, he began to walk away, "Okay, I believe you."

**The next day, at sunset. **

A chorus of yawns and complaints was all that could be heard as the squad returned to the Leaf Village.

"I'm tired!"

"My feet are sore!"

"That was a waste of time!"

Ice blue eyes narrowed to slits, and the group was stopped due to a loud sigh from a member traveling in the back. "Can't you all just shut the fuck up? The mission is done once we report to the Hokage, and then you all can go home, where your mommy will make you feel better," she snapped, mockingly emphasizing "mommy."

One of the girl's teammates looked away, mumbling, "Someone's a bit more irritable than usual..." He was responded with a smack upside the head.

"Shut up."

The rest of the walk to the Hokage's office went by in silence, nobody wanting to talk for fear of getting yelled at. It was the last thing they wanted after a long, tedious mission. So there they stood, outside Lady Tsunade's office, one fiddling with her thumbs and headband, another sitting on the floor, falling asleep. One of them, however, stood in one place, constantly fidgeting and shifting from right to left. It was the same, short tempered girl from earlier, but she seemed to be anxious about something. She stopped fidgeting for a second and opened her mouth to say something to her teammates, but as she did so, the door to the Hokage's office opened and their sensei walked out, sporting an exhausted frown on his face. All eyes were locked on him as he walked closer, stopping a few feet away from his team. There was a tense silence as they waited for him to speak.

"She praised us for a job well done and is giving us the day off tomorrow. So, I suggest you go home, get some food, and rest up. Missions start again the next day. Enjoy your day off!" he said, smiling at them and turning on his heel, heading off in the direction of his own home. All the students were anxious to get home themselves, sick of each other's company and exhausted from such a long walk. Exchanging their own goodbyes, two of the students walked off together, smiling and laughing at jokes that most likely weren't even funny to begin with. The one student that was left behind hung her head low as she watched her teammates walk off with barely even a word to her. Sighing to herself, she closed her eyes and thought of her sister, whom was most likely missing her and couldn't wait for her to get home. She probably even convinced their mother to allow her to stay up late and wait for her to get home, to hear how the mission went. Smiling, she raised her head back up and took off down the hallway, sidestepping around her teammates and continuing on her way out of the building.

Needless to say, she was excited, and desperate to get home.

When she stepped outside, she was surprised to see that it had barely gotten any darker. The sun was setting, which gave the sky a fiery look, as if there were flames covering the horizon. Shades of orange, red, yellow, white, and even a little bit of blue were all mixed into a beautiful, breathtaking sight, and the young ninja could have sworn she could smell the fiery sky. That, or someone was cooking something horribly wrong. Breathing in the nice, smoky scent one last time, she turned the corner and started heading down the street to her house, humming a song that her sister sang to herself, when suddenly, she saw smoke rising into the sky. She froze in place. The smoke was coming from…

"Oh no…"

She started to panic and took off running at an incredible speed. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay!" She kept shouting to herself, praying that her sister and mother were unharmed. She ran and ran until she reached her house and once there, the sight simply took her breath away.

"PUT OUT THE FIRE!"

Her worst fear had come true; her house was on fire. How did this happen? What caused it? Who caused it!? Suddenly she realized her family wasn't amongst the gathering civilians who desperately tried to put out the flames.

"MOTHER! LITTLE SIS!"

She charged toward the burning building, but was stopped by two citizens, who held her back.

"Stop, you can't go in there!" one shouted.

"MY FAMILY IS STILL TRAPPED IN THERE LET ME GO!" she screamed in desperation, simply trying to save her family.

"It's no use! The fire is too hot! The building is starting to fall apart!"

"LOOK OUT!"

The sound of wood breaking and glass shattering was heard as the heavy wooden boards and concrete caved in on itself, forcing the bystanders to take a step back in fear of being crushed as well.

The raven-haired girl gasped and dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks as she hopelessly watched the ruthless flames continue to burn the building she called her home for 16 years, along with her mother and sister. Her world had become a living hell. She was exhausted from the mission and now she learned her house was on fire and her mother and sister were trapped, and by now dead, from the flames. More tears poured out of her eyes, and she felt the stinging pain of sadness stab her heart.

Soon fire teams arrived to put out the flames with water jutsus, but they were too late to do any significant help. The mother and younger girl were already dead and the fire had been contained by the citizens, who bravely fought with buckets of water. Unfortunately the dark haired girl was still in the same spot, her eyes red and tear-stained from the nonstop crying.

It had been on that day that Kyza's life had become hell.

And she knew that.

Standing up and wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked at the house through narrowed eyes, suddenly feeling the burning desire for revenge.

She would find whoever did this to her, and she would kill him.

With a shout derived from pure anger, she tore a necklace she wore from her mother off her neck, and threw it into the flames. Then she took off running once more, disappearing into the surrounding forest as her life burned behind her.


	3. Chapter 3 The stranger

Ch.3: The Stranger

"THIS IS SO ANNOYING!" A loud mouthed blonde that was wearing an ugly orange and black jumpsuit said. His cry of annoyance was answered by a hit on the head by a pink-haired girl with a GIANT forehead and a VERY undeveloped body.  
Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno were two people commonly known among the Leaf Village.

Naruto, as everyone knows, is the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed demon fox that attacked the village 16 years ago and was sealed away into him by his own father, who was also the 4th Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Sakura Haruno is the first apprentice to the 5th Hokage and Sanin, Tsunade, who is a descendant of the 1st and 2nd Hokages, Hashirama and Tobirama Senju of the Senju Clan. To Naruto and few others, she is a beautiful woman with a smart mind and excellent charka control, making her one of the best medics in the Leaf village.

However, she has _big_ anger issues and usually takes her frustration out on Naruto or just hits him. An example of this was being scared by a cockroach, of all things, tripping, and taking her anger out on Naruto. The poor blonde didn't do a damn thing.

"Sheesh, what the fuck is your problem Sakura?" a gloomy voice said, getting the attention of the pinkette and blonde.

The voice that said it was none other than Kyza Kurotsuki. After the death of her mother and sister and the burning of her house, she had changed a _lot_. Her personality took a deep plunge down the drain. She was ruthless, cold hearted, and always cussed about everything. Even the Hokage would always get angry at her rudeness, though she knew how Kyza felt; to lose the ones you love the most and sink into a state of sadness and anger. The lonely girl had inherited everything that belonged to her family.

Unfortunately everything that belong to her family was burned down in the fire, except for the money kept in her mother's bank account. Thus allowing her to buy a not too shabby apartment in the southern section of the Leaf Village. However, before getting the apartment she had lived with the Yamanaka Clan and was always in a gloomy mood. Rarely eating, never going to sleep, and crying almost every day, until Ino Yamanaka took things into her own hands by talking to her, saying her mother and sister wouldn't want her to be like this, that she needed to keep her head up and keep smiling. Kyza was thankful that Ino had helped her. Nevertheless, the image of the burning house still haunted her nightmares and she would still cry whenever those dreams appeared in her mind. When would they stop? Until she avenged her family and killed the one responsible for burning her house down?

There was evidence that the fire was, in fact, started by someone, but nobody knows who. Kyza vowed to find and kill the man who started it so that her mother and sister could rest in peace.

Today, she was replacing Sai from Team 7 who was on a different mission. Kyza was not happy, no, not one bit. Naruto and Lee were getting on her nerves. She didn't know who to kill first; Lee, for shouting his "SPRING TIME OF YOUTH" shit, or Naruto, for complaining about the mission.

The group was assigned to protect the Feudal Lord from the Land of Steel. They had just signed an agreement to open trade with the Leaf Village, and would send the steel that's mined out of the ground and mountains to the Leaf so they may use them to make stronger weapons. The mission would take three days and the first day was over. Day two was going by slowly because of the slow pace they were going at.

The Feudal Lord said they should take their time and enjoy the beautiful nature, which both Gai and Lee loudly agreed to, causing Kyza sigh in frustration and TenTen to just facepalm at her sensei and teammate. She really hated this team. She just wanted to go home and be done with this mission.

"Sakura, has anyone told you that you have an anger issue?" Kyza said in a matter-of-fact tone. She hated Sakura to the core for many reasons, one of them being her anger issues. How ironic. "And another thing... What did Naruto ever do to you? Why do you hit him all the time? He hasn't done a damn thing to you, yet you are always getting angry and hitting him for no reason. That's pretty low for the 5th Hokage's first apprentice. I think medical jutsu isn't the only thing you got from her. Oh wait I forgot you always had anger issues and-"

"Kyza that's enough!" Gai said, cutting her off from continuing her verbal assault to the pinkette, who was not taking to them very kindly.

Kyza only shrugged half-heartedly and kept walking, ignoring the glare from Sakura.

"I know she lost her parents and all, but does she really have to be this mean?" TenTen asked, showing lots of concern for the younger girl. Though she didn't know her that well, she was aware of Kyza's history. Most people were.

The rest of the trip was silent, until they reached a town where they could stock up on supplies. The two teams split up, Kakashi's team taking the Feudal Lord with them.

Kyza, on the other hand, had wandered off, wanting to get away from the annoying teammates she had been stuck with. She was still mad at Gai for interrupting her. She was in deep thought, and didn't realize that she ran into someone. The sound of an "oof" alerted her that she had bumped into someone.

Taking in the look of the person, she could tell that it was a male from the sound he made, and he was draped in a black traveling cloak with a straw hat covering his face.

"My apologies kunoichi," the stranger said in a kind voice. He had eyes that were the color of aqua, and hair as red as the color of blood. All in all he was a pretty handsome man.

Kyza just shrugged. "It's fine, stranger. I should apologize. I wasn't seeing were I was going."

"No worries kunoichi."

"I have a name, its Kyza," the raven-haired girl said, getting annoyed by being called that.

"I'm Heiwasenshi, pleased to meet you," he said with a happy smile on his face. "I've been traveling for a long time now. So you know, I'd thought I'd stop here and rest for a while. I'm on my way to the Land of Steel to pick up a sword a friend of mine forged there."

This caught Kyza's attention. "The Land of Steel? You're going there too?" Surprise was in her tone when she spoke.

Heiwasenshi chuckled. "Yes, I am. It seems we were destined to meet, Kyza. How about we travel there together?"

Although Kyza wanted to know more about Heiwasenshi, she had to refuse. "I'm sorry but my reason for going there is that I'm part of a mission. I should go and find my team."

"Oh, that's too bad we couldn't get to know each other," the red-haired man said with a frown, but was quickly replaced with that happy-go-lucky smile. "Well I wish you the best of luck Kyza. Maybe we will meet again in the Land of Steel. May the Gods see you have a safe journey. Farewell," he said before walking off and soon disappearing into the crowd.

Heiwasenshi….He was weird with that happy attitude. However there was something...off about him. He was definitely hiding something under that cloak. She could have sworn she saw a sword when he adjusted his cloak. Was he a Samurai, or maybe a wanderer? She wouldn't know now since she could hear her teammates calling for her.

The two ninja squads had regrouped with fresh supplies and were now in the deep forest, making their way to the Land of Steel. The Feudal Lord's cheerful attitude changed to nervousness.  
"We should hurry," he said, his eyes darting left and right. "This area of the forest is well known for its thugs and…"

His words were cut off when the sound of weapons being drawn was heard, forcing the eight ninja to form a defensive circle around the Feudal Lord. Soon a group of what looked like 30 to 40 rouge ninja jumped out of hiding places and surrounded the ninja, all of them armed to the teeth with kunai and shuriken. Some had swords or staffs, but most had kunai.

The leader of the rouge group was a tall, muscular man with thinning black hair and a mustache reaching to his chin. In his hand was a kunai blade. This blade had the general appearance of a kunai with similar bases, but the blade was instead curved, elongated, and single-edged, giving it a similar appearance and function of a sword. He twirled the blade with a devil-splitting grin on his face. "Well well well, look what we have here, boys. The Feudal Lord of the Land of Steel, and a band of ninja from the Leaf Village acting as his guard dogs." He taunted while his goons laughed.

Naruto was quick to respond. "Yeah well…I'm gonna kick all your asses."

"Yeah right." Kyza snorted. "You'd just make a big mess." Though she gave credit to Naruto and his courage. He was still a bit stupid, though, as he was just now which irritated her so much. She wanted badly to punch him 'til he bled.

"Oh yeah let's see you beat them all up!" Naruto yelled, back making the dark-haired girl glare daggers at him. He jumped back, in fear of being beaten up by her.

"I knew I should have taken care of you beforehand," a voice from out of nowhere said.

Everyone stopped and looked around, wondering who spoke. Suddenly, footsteps where heard and a man soon appeared before them.

The leader of the rouge ninja gritted his teeth upon seeing one ninja in particular among the group. "I remember you."

Kyza was bewildered by who it was. She narrowed her icy blue eyes, so as to not keep her shock show. "Heiwasenshi."


	4. Chapter 4 Red Warrior

Ch. 4: The Red Warrior

Kyza was astonished to see Heiwasenshi standing there. Though, as she was looking at him and hearing his voice from before, she noticed two things; his voice was no longer the cheerful, happy tone it was when she meet him, it was serious and calm. And his eyes, his once calm, gentle, green eyes, were now narrowed and had the look of a warrior about him, he must have seen many battles. Who was Heiwasenshi really? He looked familiar but where had she seen him before?

Heiwasenshi walked forward, his expression still the same. "I told you to never harm anyone again." He had encountered the group during his first travel through the forest. How had he survived? By beating their leader without even drawing his sword. "You didn't listen to me, now I'm giving you one last chance. Leave, and never come back."

The rouge ninja leader scoffed at his words. "Like hell we're going to leave. How about you leave, or we'll kill you all."

Heiwasenshi just sighed. "I would not like this to get bloody. Please leave." He was answered by laughter from the ninja.

"Buddy, if you think we're just going to leave without killing someone then you're dead wrong," one of the ninja said with a cocky smirk, his sword ready to cut into the stranger's flesh. Turning to the leader, he spoke to him, "Boss, you want him dead?"

The rouge leader grinned like the devil. "Kill them all, except for the girls. We can sell them off to slavery."

That got Kyza's blood to boil. Slavery? Clenching her teeth out of pure anger, she reached into her holster, grabbing a knife, and was about to draw it when Neji stopped her. She turned to him, seeing his Byakugan activated.

"Don't…..this battle is over already." He looked over to the stranger named Heiwasenshi. "That man, Heiwasenshi, his body is overflowing with chakra."

"Are you serious Neji?" Naruto asked, getting an affirmative nod from the Hyuuga. Naruto looked at the stranger with awe, waiting to see him spring into action.

The bandits gave a loud battle cry and charged toward Heiwasenshi with the intent of cutting him to pieces.

Heiwasenshi sighed. "I did not wish to fight you. However, you leave me no choice." Suddenly he disappeared from where he stood, leaving his hat and cloak behind.

The Leaf ninja were in awe at his speed. Soon they heard the sound of screams and painful cries. They turned their heads to see five men down, and a man with blood red hair in a ponytail dressed in red samurai clothing; a red long sleeve kimono shirt, red hakama pants, white socks, and black sandals. Then he disappeared again and reappeared to the left, then again to the right, one by one, defeating each rouge ninja. He was like a red blur.

"Now's our chance, quickly! Let's get out of here and head to the Land of Steel!" the Feudal Lord spoke up with hope in his voice.

Kyza gave a questioning look to the man, all signs of aggression replaced by curiosity. "Why, shouldn't we help Heiwasenshi?"

"That's the Red Warrior, his name is Tetsushi! They can't defeat him!" He saw everyone's face was puzzled, except for Gai and Kakashi, so he explained. "Years ago, during the Mist Village Civil War, the current Mizukage gave orders to eliminate the last survivors of the Terumi Clan. The ANBU force that was sent to kill them was completely wiped out, and they claim it was Tetsushi that killed them. He's the man who is called the Red Warrior and The Devil's Servant!"

"I've heard of this story before," Kakashi said. "The rebelling Clans won the war with the help of a red-clothed samurai."

"So you're saying that same man who's fighting right now is the same one as all those years ago?" Ten Ten asked, surprised.

"Yes he is," Gai answered. "He's a warrior feared by many."

Kyza looked at the Red Warrior, watching him defeat his opponents with ease. She noticed that not one of them was being slain; they were all being knocked out by the sheath and hilt of his sword.

Tetsushi sidestepped a sloppy swing and stabbed the butt of his hilt into the man's right eye socket, making him scream in pain at the loss of an eye. He followed up with a spin and a powerful whack to the head with his sheath drawn from his sash. Glancing to his left he ducked under a swing aimed for his head and slammed his sheathed sword into his attacker's crotch.

Kyza snickered, thinking the man got what he deserved. But still… that had to hurt.

Pushing the defeated man away, Tetsushi jumped over the head of a rouge ninja who tried to stab him. The Samurai landed in a roll and quickly raised his weapon above his head to block a downward attack from the same attacker. Pushing the attack away, he sent a powerful kick to his left leg breaking it and slamming his sword into his side sending him flying. Turning to the last rouge ninja, he rushed him who prepared a fire jutsu. However that was quickly stopped by the man going into a roll to close the distance and draw his sword, slamming the butt of the hilt into his chin, knocking him out.

Defeating the last thug by rolling toward him and stabbing his sheath into his opponent's stomach and following up with a swift palm strike to the face, he placed the sheath in the sash and faced the leader, who was bewildered and furious.

"Red hair, red clothing. It can't be….you're Tetsushi, the Devil's Servant!"

Tetsushi smirked. "So my name is even known to the low life, I'm grateful." He could see anger written all over the man's face, and heard the growling he made. "What's wrong? Did you just now realize I wasn't a wannabe?"

"That's it! I'll kill you all with my ultimate technique!" He jumped high in the air and prepared his jutsu, but was taken by surprise when Tetsushi disappeared. He stared at the spot where he last saw him. Where the hell did he go!?

"Over here!"

He turned his head to see the Red Warrior was right beside him, his hand grasping his sword's hilt, then drawing it. The leader's scream was silent by his head being cut off and his body falling lifelessly to the forest floor.

Tetsushi landed and sheathed his sword and looked over the battlefield. "I warned you all and you didn't listen. This is the price you all pay."

"Holy shit, he killed them all without drawing his sword." Naruto said in excitement.

"You're wrong," Kyza corrected. "He only knocked them out and killed the leader." Now she remembered where she saw him before. She had seen a poster of him on a ship during her mission in the Land of Waves' northern Islands. This man…he was amazing. His speed and swordsmanship was a force to be reckoned with.

The red haired samurai turned to face the ninja, his eyes no longer with that narrow, serious face, but a calm, happy one. "Well I guess that's taken care of. And yes, I am on my way to the Land of Steel. So if you won't mind, I would like to accompany you there."

"Oh yes!" The Feudal Lord cheerfully said. "Having the Red Warrior with us would be a great asset in the ninja's mission to protect me."

Kyza sighed, waving her hand in dismissal before crossing her arms over her chest. "Just don't get in my way, Red Warrior."

Tetsushi scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Please, call me Tetsushi."


	5. Chapter 5 The Land of Steel

**Ch. 5 The Land of Steel**

A long silent followed after Tetsushi introduced himself, not a word was said. Only the wind blowing through the trees and birds chirping could be heard. Tetsushi was feeling awkward with all these people staring at him. He cleared his throat and was about to speak when….

"THAT WAS AMAZING! YOU'RE FLAMES OF YOTUH BURN BRIGHT!"

Everyone face palm at Lee's shouting of flames of youth. Everyone except for the Samurai who only chuckled.

"Right you are, green one. After all, 30 is still a young age."

"What!?" Both Sakura and Ten Ten screeched.

"B-but you look like your only 21!" Ten Ten yelled pointing a shaking finger at him.

"Yeah! How do you look young!? What's your secret!?" Sakura asked.

Again Tetsushi laughed, this time a little harder making him clutch his sides. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I-is my age and appearance that much of a s-surprise to you? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" The 30 year old man continue his laughter until he regain control and cleared his throat and spoke calmly. "I should have taken care of those ninja when I first came through." His aqua eyes caught sight of the two Jonin in the group. "I know you two…your Kakashi Hatake the Sharingan wielder and you're the Leaves Green Beast Might Guy."

"So it seems our names get heard by others as well." Kakashi said in his usual tone. "Though I have to wonder, what's the Red Warrior doing out here?"

"I'm a wander," His words caught the one eyed ninja off guard. "I'm no longer the Red Warrior. I'm merely a wandering swordsman now."

This catch Kyza's attention. The Red Warrior was a wandering swordsman now? Why would he do that? Did he do something horrible during the Mist Civil War that caused him to throw away the title? Hopefully she would get some answers. Clearing her throat she stepped forward and spoke. "Heiwasenshi. Uh I mean Tetsushi, I wanna know why did you lie to me about your name?" She half asked half demanded in a little angry tone. She hated being lied to.

The red head looked at the black haired kunoichi with a long look as if studying her appearance. Finally he spoke. "That… is something I'll tell you another time. For now let us get the Feudal Lord back to his home land."

"Oh yes please do. I would like to see my daughters as quick as possible. They must be worried sick about me. Red Warrior, I mean Tetsushi, again I thank you for saving us form those thugs and accompanying us to the Land of Steel."

Tetsushi bowed. "Your Lordship I would want nothing better than to see you reunited with your family." He then turned and started walked. The Feudal Lord cheerful laughing with joy as he trailed behind.

"He sure has manners." Sakura said.

"And he's a cutie." Ten Ten added with a cheek smile admiring his gorgeous looks. "Hmmm he's quite the looker."

"Ten Ten!" Sakura shrieked with surprise. "Were on a mission to protect the Feudal Lord not look at an older man."

The weapon mistress giggled at the medic's words. "Just because were on a mission, doesn't mean we can't look at this cutie. Besides, I see you eyeing him." She giggled again at seeing the faint blush appear on Sakura's face.

"W-well he is kind of cute."

Kyza pretended to vomit behind them. She was a girl yes, but she hated seeing Ten Ten act like this over a man who way older then her. She should be looking for boys her age. Not men who are in there thirties. It was weird and….creepy. She shivered at the thought of Ten Ten with that old perverted Toad Sage Jiraiya.

Kakashi was having his own thoughts. His single eye glued to the Tetsushi's red hair. Who was this man? Could he be part of the Uzumaki clan? He sent a glance to Guy who nodded and fell back a few paces with Kakashi to speak to him.

"You're thinking the same thing aren't you Kakashi?" The Taijutsu master asked in a serious tone that matched his face.

"Yeah…He might be from the Uzumaki clan. His hair is the same color as Kushina's. He might be a survivor of the Whirlpool country, however…"

"But Kakashi…what if he's not part of that clan? There are many people with red hair. Look at the Kazekage. He has red hair but he's from the Sand village, and his father was former Kazekage. He might just be a samurai with red hair."

"Maybe…" Kakashi agreed. "But I have a hunch he's part of that clan." The war veteran's thoughts were on the Uzuamki and red haired Samurai. Was he part of the Uzumaki clan? Or was he just a man with red hair?

While the two older Jonin talked with each other the younger Jonin, Neji Hyuuga was having different thoughts of the samurai. 'Incredible, his chakra powerful surpasses mine, Kakashi and Guy Sensei's. He is truly a fierce warrior.'

Kyza walked up besides Tetsushi and before she could speak to him….

"That was cool what you did back there! Are you a samurai!?" Naruto or as Kyza dubbed him, the annoying orange bombarded the red head with questions. Each question was ignored by the samurai who kept calm and didn't bat an eyelash at the annoying oranges questions. Behind the blonde was a very annoyed and angry dark haired emo girl ready to beat him up for cutting her off from talking to the samurai.

"Naruto….shut up." She hissed in anger. "Can't you see he doesn't want to talk to you?" Before she could continue her verbal assault the red head spoke.

"Yes I am a Samurai. Yes I could have killed all those men. No I do like ramen, I don't like the color orange and the reason why I lied about my name to Kyza was because I'm no longer the Red Warrior Tetsushi. I'm the wander Heiwasenshi."

Kyza was dumbfounded by the all that information he gave so quickly. Now it was her turn to ask the questions. "Heiwa I mean Tetsushi. You said you're going to the Land of Iron to pick up a sword someone made for you. But you already have a sword?"

The red head glanced at her. "I didn't say the sword was mine remember. I said I'm on my way to the Land of Steel to pick up a sword a friend of mine forged there. The sword is to be delivered to someone in the Leaf village."

Now this caught the black haired girl's attention. So that's why he was going to the Land of Fire with them. "Who is it?"

"I don't know yet? My friend said he'd tell me when I arrive. Come, let us hurry we must get to the Land of Steel." He doubled his pace forcing the ninja to keep up with him.

The ninja, daimyo, and samurai arrived at their next stop and stayed there for the night and continued at sunrise next day. Continuing the journey the group walked and walked and walked until they exited the forest into a large open grassy field and in the distances were hundreds of mountains with smoke coming out from below.

"Welcome everyone to the Land of Steel." The feudal lord introduced proudly. "That smoke you see is from the blacksmiths forges in the village."

To a certain black haired girl. The smoke was reminded her of a memory that continued to haunt her nightmares over and over. Shaking her head she blocked out the painful memory and followed her team.

The journey continued through the grassy field into a valley that lead straight into the village. The Village of Steel was full of life; children playing, bystanders buying food at the market, and blacksmith using the steel to forge into weapons, horse shoes, and many other items.

"Oh my god…there's so many!" Tenten shrieked looked as if she was going to faint from all the weapons she saw.

Tetushi chuckled at her reaction. So it seemed she was a weapons expert judging from her expressions and that large scroll she carried. He continued down the path to where his blacksmith friend was when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and spun around. His eyes scanned the streets trying to see if there was anything out of place. But there wasn't. Was he imagining things? He didn't know, but it had this strange feeling someone was watching him. He shook his head. "Must be seeing things." He muttered and continued walking unaware of a stranger in the crowed watching him.

The sound of a hammer banging against hot steel echoed through the streets continuously. A large man wearing glasses, a white bandana, and blacksmith clothing. The blacksmith wiped the sweat off his brow as he paused from the hammering of the steel he was forging into a sword. He was about to continue when the assistant came out.

"Master Daikun, we have customers!" She called from the door way.

The blacksmith turned to his assistant. "Ikki, lead them out into the back. I'll meet them there." Then he went back to forging the sword. He heard footsteps approaching from behind. "Give me a moment." He said taking the hot steel and stabbing into a bucket of water causing steam to be released from the hot steel meeting the ice cold water. After removing it he laid it out and continued to work on it until the steel was shaped into the blade he wanted. He sighed and wiped his brow ones again before removing his gloves and turning to face the customer. He was greeted by a younger man wearing red and a teenage girl with black hair. A huge smile came to his face. "Tetsu!" He embraced the young man in a fatherly hug. "How are you my old friend?"

"I am good. I have come to pick up the order you want delivered to the Leaf village."

"Excellent. I finished the weapon two days ago." He glanced over the red heads shoulder. "I see you brought a friend from the Leaf village with you." He approached Kyza and out stretched his hand for her to shake. "I'm Daikun, please to meet you."

"Kyza Kurotsuki." The black haired ninja introduced shaking hands with the blacksmith. While the rest of the ninja were returning the Feudal Lord back to the castle, Kyza decided to tag along with the Red Warrior to see this blacksmith friend he said he'd meet. She had to admit he was a skilled blacksmith and a very friendly man. "So who's this sword being delivered to?" She was very curious to know who the weapon was being given to. Maybe it was being given to someone she knew.

"Sadly the man who asked for the weapon…..has been killed." He grunted. "I recovered a letter saying he was killed during a mission. And I worked my ass off to forge this baby." H walked over to a wooden box and opened it. Revealing a beautifully crafted wakizashi. The wakizashi is a shorter version of a katana with a length from 30 to 60 centimeters. "Behold my lasted master piece." The sunlight reflected off the neatly polished steel of the sharp blade. Its handle was made of strong wood from the Land of Steels forest, thus giving it to guard to protect the hand. Nevertheless. The short blade was beautiful and forged like one made by the gods themselves.

"I gotta say Daikun, the gods blessed you with the skill of forging." Kyza complimented with a grin admiring the beautiful weapon.

This caused the blacksmith to chuckle. "Thank you, young lady. Hey how about this. Since I both wasted your time by coming out here to tell you the client is dead. How about you take it Tetsushi." He handed him the sword and wooden sheath.

The red head looked over the weapon with careful eyes. It was beautiful that it was. But a strange feeling told him he the weapon should belong to someone else. Sheathing the blade, he turned and gave it to the black haired girl. "Kyza, I'd like you to have this weapon. It's been forge by one of the greatest blacksmith masters in all the lands."

Kyza was very surprised by this offer of being given the weapon. Nevertheless she took it anyway. It could help her someday if she was forced into close combat. "Thanks." She muttered. She wanted to be happy about this new weapon but how could she be happy when her mom and sister wouldn't be there to see this new weapon? She bowed and muttered a thank you to the blacksmith and left.

Tetsushi watched the black haired girl and saw she was in lots of pain. He could see sadness and pain in her eyes when she accepted the weapon. "Daikun, I fear something must have happened to her. I can see it in her eyes. Lots of pain and sadness. But of what? Hmm, I'll have to find out."

Daikun rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously going to try and help her? Look Tetsushi, I know your trying to make amends for what you did in the past but helping this girl shouldn't be one of those."

"You may be right Daikun, but someone at her age shouldn't have that much pain. I fear….it must be something really heart breaking. Daikun, I'm gonna be taking a break from my travels."

"Oh here we go." The blacksmith muttered and rolling his brown eyes again and sighed but let a smirk come to his aging face. "Very well, it looks like the wandering swordsman is going to be staying at the Leaf Village. Or should I say, The Red Warrior." He finished with a bigger grin.

Tetsushi snorted at his swords and ran a hand through his red ponytail. "Yeah sure, whatever you say, Master Daikun. A pleasure to see you again my old friend." He embraced the master blacksmith in a brotherly hug. "I shall see you again someday. Take care."

"And you yourself Red Warrior, good luck with Kyza." He waved to the younger man until he was out of his shop and gave a chuckle. "Looks like another story begins for the infamous Red Warrior Tetsushi."


End file.
